Never say the Bulldogs do not provide their home fans with entertainment: the University of Minnesota Duluth kept it tight with Concordia University, St. Paul, picking up a pair of one-run victories (13-12 and 9-8) to complete a four-game series sweep and move the team into second place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings.

UMD (21-9, 14-4 NSIC) extended its winning streak to six games thanks in large part to the effort of senior second baseman/right-handed pitcher Jimmy Heck (1-1), who not only picked up a victory on the mound in game one but also provided a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that helped the Bulldogs secure the series victory. In game two, UMD jumped out to an early 9-2 lead in the fifth inning, but Concordia (16-8, 9-6 NSIC) rallied for five runs in the top of the eighth inning to pull within a run at 9-8. Senior right-hander Wes Mleziva came in for his second inning of the day and picked up the save (4) in a clean top of the ninth to get the Bulldogs their sweep.

Senior first baseman Alex Wojciechowski launched his 20th home run of the season, a solo shot down the left field line, in the first inning of game two, which moved him into sole possession of first place all time at UMD with 40 collegiate home runs. Heck followed that up two batters later with his second of the day (12) to give the Bulldogs an early 3-1 lead in game two. Freshman designated hitter Tyler Wojciechowski (3) and senior outfielder Spencer Diedrich (5) also each added a longball for UMD in game one.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of game one and scored in the first inning and tacked on a fifth run in the second after Concordia got on the board for the first time to make it 5-1. CU scored in each of the final six innings, knocking out junior left-handed pitcher Kevin Stocke after 3.0+ innings. Diedrich, Heck, and T. Wojciechowski helped the Bulldogs tie the game at 10-10 in the bottom of the sixth as each drove in three runs in the game.

Concordia scored a pair of unearned runs, each on a sacrifice fly after causing forcing two UMD errors leading off the inning, but the lead would not last long as Heck performed his game-winning heroics in the bottom of the inning to give the Bulldogs a series victory.

UMD 9, Concordia-St. Paul 8
After the first inning home runs by A. Wojciechowski and Heck, the two teams traded runs to make the score 4-2 after two with junior shortstop Brian Pierce singling home Diedrich to give UMD back its two-run lead.

The Bulldogs scored in the first five innings: single runs in the second and third and two runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings. Heck drove in his third run of the game and sixth of the afternoon with an RBI triple in the third. Junior outfielder Grant Farley drove in two with a single in the fourth, while Diedrich drove in his fourth run of the afternoon in the fifth and then came around to score again on a single by Pierce.

Sophomore left-handed Marcus Frederickson (2-1) tossed 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits including a sixth-inning home run. He struck out six Golden Bears on the afternoon as UMD's pitching staff totalled 11 on the day. Concordia got into the Bulldogs' bullpen with five unearned runs including a grand slam by first baseman Roch Whittaker. The Bears would get no closer as Mleziva entered, striking out two in a one-two-three ninth for his fourth save of the season.

#VoteWojo
Fan nominations are open through Sunday evening for USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award, honoring the best collegiate baseball player in the nation. The University of Minnesota Duluth has launched a social campaign asking fans to nominate Alex Wojciechowski by clicking http://bit.ly/VoteWojo and following the instructions on screen.

UP NEXT
UMD will remain at Bulldog Park this week for a doubleheader series against the University of Minnesota Crookston on Wednesday afternoon. All NSIC doubleheaders feature one seven-inning game followed by a nine-inning game. If the first game goes to extra innings, then the second reverts to a seven-inning game as well. Opening pitch is set for 1:30 p.m.